The present disclosure relates in general to a force transmitting assembly and in particular to an annular brake or clutch assembly with a floating housing to transmit force to retain the shaft against rotation when employed as a brake or to transmit rotation when employed as a clutch.
The term force transmitting assembly as employed herein is intended to refer to an assembly capable of functioning as either a clutch or a brake. These types of assemblies are also referred to herein as a clutch-brake assembly. While the present disclosure is particularly suited for use as a brake assembly and will be described in detail with reference to that application, it should be immediately apparent that it is equally capable of functioning as a clutch, a brake, or more simply referred to as a force transmitting assembly. The term force transmitting assembly will be used herein interchangeably with the term annular brake assembly.
Known clutch-brake assemblies have previously been connected with a shaft to control power transmission. These known clutch-brake assemblies have been utilized in association with can-making machines, press drives, and shear drives, as well as other machines. Known clutch-brake assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,046,593; 5,257,684; 5,577,581; and 6,637,568.
When machines have different operating characteristics, the force transmitting capability of a clutch-brake assembly must correspond to the operating characteristics of the machine with which the clutch-brake assembly is utilized. Thus, a first machine may require the transmission of relatively large forces to rotate a shaft and to retain the shaft against rotation, yet another machine may require smaller forces to rotate the shaft and retain the shaft against rotation. Accordingly the size and torque of these devices will vary with application.
While the annular brake assembly of the present disclosure may be used in any application that requires a braking force, it is particularly suited in industrial applications as a brake for each of the electric motors in an electric dragline or shovel in the mining and construction industries. In these types of applications, rotors are continuously accelerating in one direction, stopping and accelerating in the opposite direction. The rotors are rotating back and forth with the motor shafts during operation. Lower inertia value of rotating components means faster cycle time which means more production.
Thus, there still exists a need for a brake assembly that can minimize inertia and maximize torque in these and other applications.